Teddy bear
by Fleppy85
Summary: Sara and Sofia have to go to an advanced training. A lot of trouble for the two women who can't stand each other


Advanced training made sense, could be interesting, bring you to places you usually don't go to and opens your mind. Advanced training was paid by the department, gave you the nights for sleeping and only a few hours a day for working. Advanced training was a kind of paid holiday with some education background.

In good cases. In back cases advanced training was boring, the topics were old, the spokesmen had taken some kind of sedative and you had to be with people you can't stand for a whole week. No private life, no time for yourself.

Sara was sure case two fit for her. She had been sent away for advanced training. Not about an interesting forensic topic, nothing she would need in her job, no, she had to be on this advanced training about connections in law enforcement. How the police, ME and csi could work together to solve more cases in less time. Her idea for this problem: cancel all advanced trainings with this topic and there were more police officer, MEs and investigators out in the fields to catch more bad guys. Pretty easy.

And if you have to go to a advanced training like this, why the hell had it to be with Eckli's pet? Was there nobody else? Why Sofia Curtis? Why this woman who came to their shift and took over Grissom? Why couldn't they sent Greg with her? That would have been fun. Sara and Greg were a good team, with Greg, she would have skipped this shit and taken off. Her hope was there were some nice guys from the police department, but the first thing the two officers did, were checking Sara and Sofia out. With that, her hope died.

You think it can't get worse? It can! The man at the reception just told Sofia there was only one room available. One room. For both of them. Sara was supposed to share a room with this woman. Maybe she should sleep in the car.

Trying to kill Sofia with her eyes, she followed the blonde to the elevator. If Sara could manage to stab the blonde with her eyes, she had the room for herself or – even better – she was a suspect and didn't have to go to this advanced training at all. It was worth trying.

"Great." Sofia's voice was cynical when she opened the door. A few seconds later Sara saw why. One bed, no couch. Not that she had to share a room with Sofia Curtis, she was supposed to share a bed with her? No way.

"I'll go down and talk to them." Not waiting for a response, Sara dropped her back and walked back to the reception. She ignored all people around her, bend over the reception, poked her index finger in the shoulder of a man on the phone.

"Hang up. Now!"

The young man looked in disbelieve at her.

Sara took the receiver out of his hands and pulled it down.

"You'll listen now. You'll listen very carefully. Got that?" He nodded.

"I'm in room 3-35 and you'll find now and I mean immediately another room. A free single room for me or if you don't have that, you'll be very sorry, will find something very good to make up and give me a twin room. Got me? A room with two beds. Now!"

His hands flew over the keyboard. Angry voices behind her back got Sara's attention for a moment. She turned and stared with icy eyes at an elderly couple. Both stopped talking as soon as they caught Sara's glance.

"I hear." She turned back to the young man.

"I'm very sorry…"

"Wrong start, boy." She stopped him.

"There's no free room."

"What room do they get?" She pointed to the couple behind her.

"Queen size bed." Even worse than a king size bed.

"There's no free room in this hotel?"

"No, all the people from the advanced training are in here…"

"Do they all share one bed?"

"There were too many bookings…all I've left are rooms with king size beds and I can't give you another room because none of them are free."

"I don't like your answers."

"I can't give you any other answer."

"Try harder."

"Listen, Lady, we're fully booked. I can offer you free breakfast the whole week but I can't offer you another room."

"I think I'll come down later and talk to your boss. But we'll keep the free breakfast." Sara turned and walked back. Breakfast didn't make up for sharing a room with Sofia. It was not even a start.

"Any luck?" Sofia was sitting on one of the two chairs.

"No. All I got was free breakfast for us."

"A start."

"Not what I wanted. The damn hotel is fully booked. All they have are rooms like this one or even worse with a queen size bed. We were too late to get one of the twin rooms." And why were they late? Because Eckli had to tell them all the things they were supposed to do and they weren't supposed to do. Like they were listen to that shit.

"I'm sorry." Sofia said.

"Believe me, me too." Sara had to force back the urge to kick something. She closed her eyes, let herself fell in front of the wall and slipped slowly down the wall. She had thought about sleeping on the carpet, but she had no idea how good the housekeeper were. And she had seen too many carpets and what was in and on them. No matter how clean they looked.

"I'd offer to sleep on the carpet…" Sofia seemed to have the same thought.

"You know how they look."

"Yes I do, that's why I'm not happy with this idea. And the bathtub isn't big."

"I go back and kill Eckli, then they'll send me to prison, I'll have my own bed and nobody will bother me anymore. Yes, that's a good plan. Where are the car keys? I'll leave now and strangle Eckli around midnight. Perfect time for a vampire like him."

"I won't give you the key, you'll do that."

"Of course I will. Do you protect your owner?"

"I'm not his pet." Sofia's voice got angry.

Sara said nothing.

"He sent me to graveyard shift because I didn't tell him about Grissom what he wanted to hear, what he needed to make Grissom lose his job so he broke your team up. I'm not happy with that. He sent me here with you, knowing we'll kill each other. I'm not happy with that either. Would you please stop treating me like it was all my idea? It wasn't."

Sara kept silent. She knew all these things but they didn't change any of her feelings. And her feelings were full with hate right now. An anger therapy was something she needed more than this stupid advanced training.

"If it's so disgusting for you to share a room with me, ask the two officers, I'm sure they'll welcome you in their bed."

Now Sofia was ridiculous. No matter how less Sara liked Sofia, she preferred her over the two police officers.

"Left or right side?" Sara asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you want to have the right or the left side of the bed?" There was no way she got out of this, she had to arrange herself with the circumstances.

"I don't care."

"Neither do I. Pick one I'll take the other one." Sara opened her eyes. Yes she had to cope with this, if she would leave the advanced training, Eckli would kick her out of the office and she loved her job. And there was no way she'd give him this pleasure.

"I promise I won't bite you. Can you promise the same?" Sofia tried to smile.

"I'm a vegetarian." Sara got up and left the room. They had to share a room but that didn't mean they had to be in it together.

Sofia sighed when Sara closed the door. Perfect. First this transfer to the night shift, a thing that had messed up her sleep, her life and her work. From acting supervisor to investigator. What a career. She missed her friends on day shift, she missed being trusted, she missed being surrounded by people who didn't hate her. The only two people on night shift who didn't treat her like she was the devil were Grissom and Greg. Both weren't here. Now, she got sent here with the one who hated her most: Sara Sidle. A talented woman with the personality of a devil. Why Sara hated her, Sofia had no idea. Was it because Cath, Warrick and Nick had to leave the shift? It wasn't like that Sofia made the decision. If she had lied, if she had told Eckli Grissom isn't a good supervisor, she would be still on dayshift, everything would be like it was supposed to be and…she'd hate herself. She'd hate herself for lying. She preferred that other people hated her.

A look on the watch told her it was time to grab some dinner. No need to look for Sara, the brunette was gone and Sofia wasn't in a mood to cope with her colleague. She'd enjoy the time without her, maybe there were some nice people downstairs having dinner.

Without really talking to each other Sara and Sofia got through the day. None of the women had the urge to spend time with the other one. Sara was for herself, Sofia talked to some people from other cities.

They met later in the evening when Sofia was already in bed, reading and Sara came in the room. Wordless the brunette vanished in the bathroom, took a shower and went to bed, trying to leave as much space between her and Sofia as possible.

"Good night."

Sofia rose an eye brow. Wow, Sara talked to her.

"Good night…I hope you'll sleep better than last night."

"Why?" There was so much suspicion in this word, Sofia could almost grab it.

"When I woke up you were turning a lot, seemed like you had a nightmare."

"I'm fine."

"Okay." Sofia could see a lie when she saw it and she could also hear a lie when she heard one. Sara was lying but Sofia had no interest in asking further questions. She got her attention back to her book.

"I'll finish the chapter in a few moments."

"Go on reading, I can sleep with light, no problem."

"Okay." In that case, Sofia would read a little bit longer. She wasn't tired yet and this book was good. It was the highlight of the day

When she turned off the light half an hour later Sara was still awake. For a moment Sofia thought of saying something to her but changed her mind. Sara had offered her to read longer, there was no need to say she was sorry. With her little teddy bear in her arm she closed her eyes. Five more nights and she could go home.

When Sofia woke up in the middle of the night she had the feeling Sara was still awake. There was no regular breath coming from the brunette. Sofia wasn't sure if that was better than the nightmare last night.

Should she talk to Sara? No. The only thing she'd get was a snappy comment. Trying to talk to Sara was a waste of time.

She closed her eyes and was a few moments later sleeping.

When Sofia got up Sara was gone. Sofia had been awake one more time in the night and Sara was sleeping. She had a nightmare again. Sofia had no idea what these dreams were about, but her it seemed like they got worse every night. Sara was turning, crying, shaking. It was very hard for Sofia not to wake her and she was sure, if that happened again next night, she'd wake her up.

Again they didn't talk during the day and Sara wasn't there for dinner. She came into the room later, when Sofia was again in bed, reading. One look and Sofia knew Sara wasn't alright. She looked worse than yesterday, she looked worse than the whole day. She looked exhausted. Sofia was sure, when Sara slept, she had nightmares.

"Good night."

"Sara, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." The 'sure' sounded like: no, don't talk to me, leave me alone.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm tired, I want to sleep and I try no to have any trouble."

No trouble? Sofia knew some trouble Sara had. She had too much beer, Sofia could smell it but it wasn't the time to say something about that.

"You don't sleep and when you do, you're having nightmare."

"Do you watch my sleep?"

"I don't have to watch your sleep, I only have to wake up in the night."

"I can sleep in the bathroom…"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"What? I try not to disturb your sleep."

"Sara." Sofia sighed. This woman was a natural disaster. "I didn't say that because I want you to sleep anywhere else, I said that because I worry a little bit why you don't sleep or why you have these nightmare if you sleep. That's not normal."

"It's not your business."

"No, it isn't."

"So, if you can sleep everything is alright." Sara turned, a sign that this topic was over for her.

Sofia rolled her eyes. Women. This woman.

Sara had nightmares. Sara was awake for hours. Sofia knew it, she had heard it, she had felt it, but she didn't say a word.

They ended up sitting next to each other, Sofia saw how Sara had to struggle to stay awake, how her head sank a few times and Sara fell asleep for a few seconds.

She didn't want to but Sofia felt sorry for Sara.

When she came back from dinner, Sara was sitting on a chair, working on her notebook. Sofia took a shower and made the decision, it was time for her book again. The best thing about this week was, she could finish the book and she loved every page. Maybe she'd read it again.

"Can you remember the name of the guy who spoke after the black lady?" Sara asked out of the blue.

"Paul."

"As a name or surname?"

"Surname."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She knew, Sara had been sleeping when they called out the name of the man. It was one of the many few seconds of sleep she had. Sofia also knew, if she'd say something about that, they'd have a fight.

"If you want you can have my notes, they're in the folder on the table. I've got all the names."

"All I need was this name…I think."

"Just in case, help yourself." Be nice Sofia, but not too nice. It's Wednesday, half of the week was over. Half of the week was over! That was a reason to celebrate. Sofa opened the nightstand and got some chocolate out. A big no-no usually but she needed something to celebrate.

"Wanna have something"? She offered.

"No thanks. I'm not into chocolate."

Yeah, that could raise her mood, that was nothing for Sara. What a stupid idea. Sofia took a big bite. Milk chocolate with macadamia nuts. Heaven.

Half an hour later Sara went to bed.

Sofia finished her chapter and turned of the light. She wasn't tired. Maybe she could have a bath. She had to get up anyway to brush her teeth, a little bath, another chapter of her book and the evening had the perfect finishing.

She slipped out of the bed and went into the bathroom. Preparing the bath, brushing her teeth she started to whistle quietly. Yes, that was a little bit like holiday. She read another chapter, dressed in her sleep shirt and smiled when she came along the mirror. That's life. A shower, a good book and now she was ready for bed. No work. No bodies.

She turned off the light and walked quietly in the room. As soon as she opened the door she knew, there was no reason to be quiet. Sara was sleeping and had another nightmare. She wouldn't hear Sofia.

The blonde slipped in the bed, looked at the brunette. She was turning, crying. Sofia could actually see some tears. And this night Sara was talking out loud.

"No…no…don't…please…no…stop…no…" She tried to hit somebody, she tried to hide, it was like a fight with an invisible opponent.

"Noooo."

All guts in Sofia tighten up. Sara didn't sound human anymore. Trouble or not, she had to wake her up, she couldn't let her be in this nightmare.

"Sara! Wake up." Sofia shook the brunette.

"No…noo…please…noo…"

"Sara! Wake up!" Sofia grabbed the shoulders and shook harder.

"No, I…no…" Sara's eyes popped open. "No…noo…"

"Ssssh, it's alright." Sofia pulled her arms around Sara before the woman could try to slap her.

"Everything is alright." She hold on to Sara, who was trying to fight her. Sofia wasn't sure if it was because Sara was still in her nightmare or because she wanted to push Sofia away. As long as she didn't say anything that made sense, Sofia would hold on.

"No…I…"

"It was a nightmare, Sara." And you're trembling so much, Sofia thought.

"No…I…"

"Nothing will happen, everything is alright."

"Sofia?"

There, Sara was back in reality. At least it was the first step.

"Yes?"

Sara tried to get out of Sofia's arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of the nightmare, stopping you from crying and prevent myself from being smacked by you. Can I let you go?"

"Yes." Sofia opened her arms and Sara withdrew immediately.

"All I wanted was getting you out the nightmare, consider that before you'll start to fight, okay? You were turning around, you were crying, talking and fighting with somebody who wasn't there. At least not visible."

"I can…"

"If you tell me now you can sleep in the bathroom, I'll follow you there and smash your head in front of the wall as long as I need to get your head clean."

"Who do you think you are?"

"I'm the one who got you out of a nightmare, who slept next to you for three nights, knowing you were awake or had nightmares that got worse every night. I'm the one who watched you falling asleep for a few seconds several times today because you didn't sleep. I'm the one who won't let you to this another night or another day. If you don't sleep tonight – and I mean real sleep and not a nightmare thing – I won't let you go to the advanced training shit. That might seemed to be not a punishment but I'll tell Grissom that there's something wrong with you and you need some help. He'll care."

"Why don't you go to Eckli? He'll be delighted to have a reason to send me away."

"Well, that's a good reason not to go to him. Beside the facts that I don't like him and I don't want you to leave the team. I don't want you to lose your job, I want you to stay in your job and get some help. Like it or not, one of these things will happen. Your choice. Gil and the professional help or some sleep."

"I do not not sleep because I don't want not to sleep."

"Thought that."

"If I knew how to get rid off these nightmare they wouldn't be here anymore."

"Try something new, try talking."

"To you?"

Sofia had to laugh. Sara's words sounded like Sofia had suggested to her to jump from the Stratosphere Tower without any parachute.

"Here is Mister Bear, he'll listen. You don't have to talk to me but you won't leave the bed and if you don't sleep or have a nightmare again, you have to choose between Grissom or me." Sofia pressed her teddy bear in Sara's hands and turned away. The look in Sara's eyes when she got the teddy bear was something that made Sofia smile. Sara was speechless for a second and had no idea what to do with the teddy bear.

Sofia covered herself with the blanket and closed her eyes, listening the whole time what Sara was doing.

Obviously she made the decision to stay in bed, she laid herself down and because Sofia couldn't feel her teddy bear anywhere next to herself neither did she hear how Sara threw it away (a thing Sofia would never forgive her) she was sure, Mister Bear was with Sara. Good. He was a damn good listener and had some experience with sad traumatized women. She had told him all about her new shift. So, he knew Sara already.

When Sofia woke up she had Sara in her arms. How did that happen? She must have turned and then…shit. Of course, she was used to have something in her arms, like Mister Bear and a pillow. As soon as nothing was in her arms, she started to look automatically for something she could hold on. Unfortunately, it was Sara.

Sofia wanted to pull her arm away when she found out, Sara was holding on to it. And she slept. With no signs of a nightmare. She simply slept and hold on to Sofia's arm.

Okay, if that was a way to get her some sleep, Sofia wouldn't pull her arm away, she'd leave it right where it was and hoped, Sara got all the sleep she needed.

It was the sunshine that woke Sofia up. She still had Sara in her arm and…one moment! Sunshine? What the hell? She looked at the radio watch next to her bed. Damn it, they had slept in. The first spokesman was already talking. They had to…wait…no, they didn't have to. Who said, they had to? And why should she wake Sara up? The brunette was still sleeping, no signs of nightmares, no turning, only deep, quietly sleep. There was no way Sofia would wake her up and there was no way she'd risk that Sara sleep bad, got her nightmares back because Sofia had left the bed and couldn't wake her up. No. She'd stay as long as it would take for Sara to wake up. If she had to stay until lunch, she'd stay.

Maybe the brunette was in a better mood after a long sleep. Sofia was sure these nightmare haunted Sara for a long time, that was nothing she got she they shared a room. There was a history and a reason in the past.

A moving Sara got Sofia's attention.

Sara's eyes opened and they looked straight into Sofias.

"Good morning." The blonde smiled slightly.

"Mor…" Sara stopped when she realized she was in Sofia's arms. "What the…"

"Calm down, Sara." Sofia got her arm back.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Okay, I won't if you listen. I woke up with you in my arms. My problem is, I always need something in my arms, you had – have – Mister Bear, so while I was sleeping I was looking for something else. Found you. I wanted to pull my arm back as soon as I woke up, but the thing was, you were holding on to it. I couldn't get it without waking you up. And it was the first time since we're here that you slept. Really slept with no nightmares. There was no way I'd wake you up to get my arm. Like there was no way that I wake you up because we slept in. So, now you can be mad, you can yell at me, can threaten me or whatever." Sofia crossed her arms and looked at Sara.

The brunette stared at her without a word.

"I can't hear you." Sofia said. "Come on, you never had a problem to be mad at me."

"Thank you, Sofia."

"What?" That weren't exactly the words Sofia had anticipated. She lost her guard and her balance.

"Thanks for helping me to get some sleep. And sorry for being…me…again." Sara looked at Mister Bear, who was still in her arms. She had hold on to it the whole night.

"And thanks for Mister Bear." She offered the teddy bear to Sofia.

"You're welcome." Sofia took her teddy bear, put it to her ear, smiled and gave it back to Sara.

"He said, he'd like to spend some time with you. He reckons there's no reason to go down, having everybody looking at us because we're late. He said, we should have a nice morning, have some breakfast and join the rest of the group after lunch."

"Mister Bear is very wise." Sara pressed the teddy to her chest. "And he's a real good listener."

"He has some training."

"How come?"

"I tell him all about work…"

"That's why he knows me. I thought he sounded like he knew a lot about me. I wonder that he listened to me, he didn't hear anything about me before."

"He's open-minded." Sofia smiled. No need to deny that she had told her teddy bear nothing good about Sara.

"I bet he is." Sara pressed the toy to herself for a second and gave it then back to Sofia. "I'll take a shower. He can talk to you about last night."

"He's not a talker, he's a listener. That's why you can tell him all your secrets, he doesn't tell them anybody else."

"Seems like he's better than most people." Sara smiled lightly and walked into the bathroom.

"He is. He is." Sofia kissed Mister Bear. Much better than most people.


End file.
